circular belsaw sawmill

[1wkinsley]

Ive been cutting timbers with my old Belsaw sawmill and Ive tried hard to get it level and straight but the back end of my timbers are always between and 1/4 and 1/2 smaller than the front of the timber, does anyone have any advice?

[Ron Wenrich]

Your track might not be perpendicular to your husk.  If it's running in a bit of an angle, you can have that problem.  Your bearings in your wheels could be shot.  That allows the carriage to move left and right.  Too much lead in the saw would have it cut in.  Is the saw jumping out of the cut at the end?   You don't have your teeth filed straight.  If they are angled, they will cut towards the long side.  Also happens if you have a long side on teeth that you have swaged.  Headblocks could be out of alignment. 

I'd start out by measuring the distance from each headblock to the saw.  That will tell you if it's in alignment.  To check the bearings, usually a good kick against the carriage will detect movement. 

[coalsmok]

The first thing to check on any mill is that everything is straight, level, plumb, aligned as it should be and solidly mounted. Then check your blade and teeth.   
You can't make good lumber if things can shake around or moves as you run the carriage or head around.

[Ron Wenrich]

I've found that teeth are more often the culprit vs mill alignment.  If the problem goes away when you change teeth, then it's the saw maintenance.

[Possum Creek]

If you lose saw speed the blade can run in but it is almost always the teeth, a high corner will lead the saw in its direction.          PC

[DMcCoy]

A little more information please.
How long are your timbers and how many headblocks does your mill have?
Mine would skip a tooth now and then when I used the setworks to push a heavy log forward.
I would measure first the distance between your headblocks and the same tooth on the blade, or count the notches to see if they are the same, and then measure.
What kind of condition is the blade in?
As mentioned above how much slop is the the guide wheels?

[whitepine2]

 Fired up my old Chase and or Lane mill and after first cut noticed that it
was sawing off,then noticed saw slowing down. Well after a little belt
tightening the next slice the old governor on the 6-71 opened up and
she just sliced straight and true. Don't take much ti throw them off just
gotta sort it out. As others say most times it's in the saw got to keep
the teeth sharp and true. 

[whitepine2]

A little more information please.
How long are your timbers and how many headblocks does your mill have?
Mine would skip a tooth now and then when I used the setworks to push a heavy log forward.
I would measure first the distance between your headblocks and the same tooth on the blade, or count the notches to see if they are the same, and then measure.
What kind of condition is the blade in?
As mentioned above how much slop is the the guide wheels?

Yes that too,been so long using the Bellsaw I forgot about
skipping a tooth had this problem,this is something  to check out
you just got to keep checking things out small stuff will drive you nuts.

[1wkinsley]

Ive been cutting nothing long just 8, 10, and 12 footers. I have three headblocks. The blade in good condition everything ive measured is straight and level. Even with twelve inch logs the blade will bog down, I am running it off a Farmall B. Perhaps it is the teeth, I have not messed around with those too much. Any other comments would be appreciated.

[Possum Creek]

Even with twelve inch logs the blade will bog down, I am running it off a Farmall B. 

I would say that's the problem, if you can't keep the saw speed up you cannot cut a straight line with a belsaw at least I couldn't.                                            PC

[Ron Wenrich]

Not only a Belsaw, you'll have that problem with any mill.  If you're bogging down, you're feeding too fast for your hp or you have belt slippage.  The saw won't stand straight, and you'll overload your gullets.  Are you 1/4-1/2" under from bottom to top of the cant?  Or is the top 1/2" under and the bottom 1/4" under?

[bandmiller2]

A farmall "B" in its prime has 16 hp. that's not enough moxie to efficiently run a mill. Just for chuckles try a large tractor I think your problems will disappear. Frank C.

[whitepine2]

A farmall "B" in its prime has 16 hp. that's not enough moxie to efficiently run a mill. Just for chuckles try a large tractor I think your problems will disappear. Frank C

You got that right Frank +2 same as belts slipping not enough power
to saw.

[tractorman44]

I'm thinking DMcoy may have hit it with the pinion gear jumping one slot on either the front or rear headblock.  (At least I THINK that's what those gears are called).  The slots seem to wear over time and the gear teeth fit a bit loosely and are easy to jump a cog , usually the rear one.  They are not real substantial to begin with on these little rigs.

You're lucky with the three headblocks.  Luckily I've been donated another severely damaged carriage and am currently salvaging a third to add to mine.   

Let us know what you find sir.

[DMcCoy]

It's been a long time since I ran mine (15 yrs maybe).  If it's not an easy find/fix like a pawl (cog) jumping a slot here is my short list.  Ron can tell you if I have this correct.

Underpower - blade is dished (hammered) to allow for stretch when run at hammered speed.  Too slow, blade is dished, allowing rubbing at the center.  Center gets heated creating more dishing.  The cant rubbing the blade pushes the cant backward as you saw.  Cant would be wider at the back.

Teeth dull/sloped on cant side, blade cuts out.

Not enough lead.  I had my lead set at 1/8".

Splitter not set right.

I had babbet mandrel bearings which would get hot.  That heat ended up being transferred to the saw blade causing problems I ended up using water to cool it. 

If you sawing starts out good and gets worse I would suspect heating of the blade.

The belsaw guide wheels/track on my are rounded.  I have had blade issues push the carriage off the track.

Carriage pull - I'm assuming your cable is pulling straight down the base, not adding side loading to your carriage.  I had to add extra pulleys (sheaves) on mine.  One set to keep the pull on the carriage straight in line and another set to keep the cable winding on the drive drum correctly.
Good luck!
And again I think Ron would be better at this.